raising fish for food? Update #109!!

[silkiechicken]

Sidney, are you sure your pond pump is only 20gph? Perhaps off by a factor of 10? Our 20 gallon indoor aquarium has a 75 gph filter on it.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I would use channel cat and bluegill or redear sunfish. They both grow relatively fast if well fed. I've had brown and yellow bullhead and they taste good but they don't get very big and they roil the water by stirring up the bottom. Nice fish but I wouldn't have them again. Is there a reason you need grass carp?
It's cheapest to start with fry but fingerlings give a quicker start.
I didn't read all the entries so I don't know what size body of water you decided on but keep in mind that if the tank or pool is very small it will tend to prevent the fish from getting very large.
Again, I like Zetts. Always got nice fish from them. Always alive and always flourished. I did have a 3 acre pond though with a live stream flowing through.

 

[Wifezilla]

Would you fish farmers mind posting where you get your stock? I am having a hard time finding sources. I am particularly interested in the red claws (Australian crayfish).

 

[Farmerman]

http://www.sugarcreekfishery.com/welcome.html#


I had good luck with these guys, they also had the israeli carp I mentioned some posts back if anyone was interested in those. but they arent listed on the site, i had called him and talked to him.

 

[sydney13]

Quote:
Im curious, which did you like the taste of better, the channel catfish or bullhead?
I was only thinking of carp just because they seem to have a fast growth rate, but do you recommend avoiding them (they would probably eat all my pond plants, right)?
Now Im starting to wonder if yellow perch might be a good choice because they seem to do well in cooler waters and have good eating qualities?

 

[Wifezilla]

Thanks for the links. If anyone has another one, please post that too.

 

[Farmerman]

Quote:
what are your goals? Just to have fish? To grow the MOST amount of fish? To readily be able to breed said fish? (let them breed themselves or actively help them)

catfish are a great choice for a small set up, but they can be (not will be) tricky to breed in captivity. Depends on many variables. catfish are pretty good at food conversion, and can handle a bit higher stocking densities then most.

Perch should breed well enough on their own but they will need a solid supply of carnivorous sources of food.(insects and smaller fish) the link i posted, he said hes got perch that were trained to take to supplemental feeding. they arent great at feed to meat conversion

bluegill and sunfish that chickencanoe mentioned convert food decently well, but take two years to grow to eating size. they will breed for themselves, so thats easy as well. overall a pretty good choice. depending on what you want. Pretty decent food to meat conversion.

I still like common carp. Not grass carp. grass carp you have to go to lengths to breed in a small pond, they need moving water. youd need to use hormones to breed them. also they do grow fast but eat a TON, not nearly as good at feed to meat conversion as youd think. Common carp CAN be tasty, if they have good water, and the right diet. You can also catch them and keep them in pure water alive a few days, if they are from poor water to purge them of the taste most types of bottom feeders will get in poor water..... If you get israeli or mirror carp they will out grow any fish listed here by leaps and bounds. they will breed on their own, can be supplementaly fed or not. the only fish that competes with food to meat conversion is tilapia that Im aware of, and those need warm water, and as I outlined a few posts back a couple other things the carp trump them on.

so it really depends what you want out of it.... How much space you have etc.... whether you want a more involved or passive set up.... theres a huge stigma on common carp, but it can be a VERY tasty fish, depending on a few variables. the stigma comes from the environments and foods they eat in the wild. Its been a cultured fish for a few thousand years... romans spread the practice across europe out of asia. and monks in europe are actually the ones who bred the mirror carp (a selection of common carp) Israeli carp are bred out of those by aqua culturalists in israel. for even faster growth, and several other things.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Quote:
I'm interested in these for our next rotation, can you give me more info on them? As soon as I said "carp" bf was like NO. How much did you pay from that hatchery for them?

 

[Farmerman]

1 dollar a fish, plus shipping......

If your serious about considering them, pull up some info for your BF. The carp has a bad rap in america. It was actually brought here to farm and was sold to the wealthy. It fell out of favor though, when it became feral and acquired a poor taste. People stopped farming them so a few generations grew up know them only as a poor tasting fish. Fishermen think they are the scourge of the earth although,in the south its soul food.

BUT if you dig into it, the properly feed ones have won blind taste tests even in the states. Its actually one of the most purposely raised freshwater fish. Some say the most. Look up christmas carp for instance, for the european countries who raise it. Its commnly raised all over asia, parts of europe, israel, and recently been taught to people in africa, with some native african carps, very similar to the common carp the states now has.

You dont need to get only one type of fish either of course.

 

[CDennis]

This is amazing! I have never even heard of it before and now I want to start one in the spring. What about fresh water shrimp or mussels? Seems like you could grow those as well.